Who is Roman Heinze?

* Born in West Germany and now aged 61. Came to Australia in 1959 with his parents and two older brothers.

* His mother died in 1990 and a brother died in 2014. His father is still alive, aged in his late 80s. Heinze left work to become a carer for his father in 2013.

* Attended Alberton Park Primary School and Findon High School. Left school in the early 1970s.

* Completed an apprenticeship in cooking and became a qualified chef. Worked in various hotels and restaurants around Adelaide.

* Married twice. First time in the late 70s. That marriage lasted 12 years and produced a daughter and a son who visit him in jail. Remarried in 1990. That marriage lasted 22 years and produced three sons now aged 22, 18 and 15. He maintains contact with those children.

* In the 1990s he obtained a general builders' licence and worked since in the building industry, including for about two years in Germany.